Dating sim loading: My girlfriend is a cunning young lady

The world was trembling.

"It's not," Dubian Che closed his eyes.

"Tell me to give up, you're speaking the truth," Kiyono Lin said slowly, pausing after every word.

"It's not."

Kiyono Lin gave a cold laugh, her piercing gaze fixed on Dubian Che, who had his eyes closed.

'You love Kiyono too much to view her objectively, thinking only from her perspective.'

'You and Kiyono Lin are close, which is why you cannot think calmly.'

'Jiutiao carries the burden of her family and cannot see through lies, yet you ask her not to lie when she has already stopped lying to you!'

'Meiji paid a price, what about you, Kiyono? Wanting to be friends, where is the least bit of mutual care? Only seeking to have others accommodate you?'

'Love is not one-sided; it's mutual!'

Plan after plan, reason upon reason, a whole basket of carefully thought-out words had brought Dubian Che to this point, standing on the stage.

But...

Only by being ruthless and heartless could one strip away personal feelings to find a solution, to fulfill one's desires—and he was still unable to do so.

He opened his eyes, looking at Kiyono Lin.

Her beautiful face, ablaze with the fury of betrayal, wore an icy, indifferent expression.

If this were not a stage for a play performance, she would have already turned and walked away.

Though her gaze was cold and sharp like a blade, making one dare not meet it; though she was stubborn and unfeeling... Dubian Che still hopelessly loved her.

'All flowers bloom for you; you are just that unique.'

No matter how many choices life had to offer, Dubian Che had only one path to follow: to love Kiyono Lin.

"Enough is enough," he said coldly.

At that moment, the typhoon fled in panic, and the clouds didn't dare make a sound.

Everyone held their breath as Kiyono Lin looked at him incredulously.

"The outside world is wonderful," Dubian Che said, "with witches who can sympathize with the devil, priestesses who, for the love of the divine, don't care about the divine's feelings and make deals with the devil, and all sorts of people, all sorts of things. Don't you want to go see it? Why stay in this icy Immortal Realm where only flowers bloom?"

"Is that wrong? Is there a mistake?"

"It is wrong. There is a mistake."

"The reason?"

"There is no reason."

"Being nonsensical?" Kiyono Lin said mockingly.

Dubian Che thought of Mayi Asuka, who didn't care about anything, even including his own wishes, as long as she was with him.

"The only one who could bother and try so hard to be nonsensical for me is you," Dubian Che said.

"..." Kiyono Lin fell silent, turning her face away to avoid his gaze.

"I'm not forcing you to make any choice, but now I want you to answer me: do you have any regrets? Have you ever thought about reconciling with her?"

In the script, a fairy cannot lie.

In reality, Kiyono Lin would not lie.

At some point, the wind had stopped, and a hushed silence fell like a drizzle on a rooftop, playing itself out in the gymnasium.

After a long while, Kiyono Lin's calm voice spoke:

"...Yes."

...

"The fairy admits her error, the world reaches its end," Dubian Che said flippantly, clapping as if the previous confrontation had never happened.

Only then did the audience come back to reality, all in amazement.

"What a cunning devil!"

"Pretending to be a good guy, actively persuading the fairy to forgive the maiden, I was wondering why, so that's it!"

"The map wasn't prepared by the devil from the start, was it?"

"Perhaps the witch, priestess, knight, and maiden have all been used by the devil, mere pawns for the devil, whose goal from the beginning was the fairy."

"So that's what 'world's end' means."

The audience discussed their interpretations of the plot eagerly, applauding vigorously as they realized the curtain was slowly descending.

Watching the curtain close, Dubian Che breathed a sigh of relief.

"It's completely different from the plan," Jiutiao Meiji said beside him.

"That's enough," he replied.

Kiyono Lin suddenly approached him, whispering, "I have something to tell you later."

"..." Upon seeing her fierce gaze, Dubian Che's heart wailed.

"Meiji..." The day had come when he actually wished for Jiutiao Meiji's help.

"Go ahead, my dear," Jiutiao Meiji said with a smile.

Behind the curtain, the people backstage erupted into applause.

"That was incredible!"

"Your acting is so amazing, I actually thought you were really arguing!"

"Seriously, I got scared for a moment!"

"We're like Oscar actors, what's this to us," Dubian Che responded flippantly.

After changing out of their costumes, Dubian Che and Kiyono Lin headed to the second-floor corridor of the gymnasium leading to the school building.

The typhoon had passed, leaving behind a drizzling rain.

Before Kiyono Lin could speak, Dubian Che said childishly, "I am sorry I was mean to you, but that's because I like you."

"I guessed what you intended to do on stage the moment I got the script."

"So you were already prepared to make up with Jiutiao Meijie?"

"Don't change the subject," Kiyono Lin glared at him.

'You're one to talk,' thought Dubian Che, growing increasingly worried even as he tried to deflect.

There was one aspect of the whole situation he simply couldn't justify, and Kiyono Lin had obviously noticed.

"In Karuizawa..."

Just as he feared.

"...you deliberately brought up the scene of our first meeting, getting me to play along, all to make me agree to the Cultural Festival play? And then perform this scene?"

"No. I really just mentioned it without thinking."

"You used my nostalgia for the past... "

"If I prostrated myself, would you forgive me?"

Kiyono Lin looked at Dubian Che coldly, "Open the window."

"As you wish."

Once the window was opened, fresh and comfortable air rushed in; summer had passed, and Tokyo had fully entered autumn.

Kiyono Lin took a deep breath of the cool night air.

"That, Kiyono, Ryou?"

"What am I supposed to do with you?" Kiyono Lin turned her head, a resigned smile on her face, "You like me so much, and I like you so much."

Dubian Che found himself at a loss for words.

Were his feelings at that moment akin to those on stage, when Kiyono Lin heard him say, 'The only person who could drive me this crazy, with so much concern and effort, is you'?

◇

Although the typhoon had stopped, the trains hadn't resumed service, and the school wasn't comfortable letting students go home so late; they still had to stay overnight at school.

When it was time to sleep, Jiutiao Meijie chose to sleep between Dubian Che and Kiyono Lin, not willing to be next to even a girl in the neighboring bed.

Lying in the darkness, Kiyono Lin reflected on everything she'd experienced on stage that day.

In the beginning... perhaps she really had been too heartless towards Jiutiao Meijie.

She closed her eyes, asking herself what she truly felt in the depths of her heart.

Did she hate Jiutiao Meijie?

Hate.

Did she hate being with Jiutiao Meijie?

No, she was used to it.

What if they continued to be friends?

...That wasn't impossible.

At age four, whose fault was it?

Jiutiao Meijie broke the pact first, but to expect a four-year-old to never lie was asking too much; she was a bit more at fault.

Kiyono Lin exhaled.

In the darkness, she reached out her hand to the right, touching Jiutiao Meijie's slender fingers.

The next moment, Jiutiao Meijie withdrew her hand and changed from lying on her back to turning away from her, facing Dubian Che instead.

Kiyono Lin's hand was left alone between them.

She silently stared at the gym's ceiling that seemed like a vault of heaven.

Once gears have misaligned, they can never return to their original state.

Kiyono Lin closed her eyes, plunging her world into utter darkness.

Just then, her hand was touched, those slender fingers gently brushed against hers.

A warm flow surged from the bottom of her heart. Kiyono Lin, who had never changed her sleeping position, suddenly felt the urge to roll over in bed.

At some point, one of their hands reached out, and at that same moment, the other did too.

In the pitch-black night, it was unclear who changed their position first, but it was evident that what was originally a mere touch ended with their hands clasped together.